Syrian opposition to resume Geneva talks on March 7

Damascus, Feb 27 (IANS) The Supreme Commission for Negotiations (SCN), the main Syrian opposition alliance, announced on Saturday that it will resume peace talks in Geneva on March 7 if the regime and its allies respect the ceasefire.

Commission spokesman Riyad Agha told Efe news that the opposition delegation is ready to return to indirect talks with the Syrian government representatives in the Swiss city, if the US-Russia sponsored truce, which came into effect at midnight, is respected.

The UN Security Council demanded on Friday night respect for the cessation of hostilities in Syria, shortly before the truce came into force, noting that a new round of peace talks between the government and the opposition will be held on March 7.

Meanwhile, Agha revealed that the two main Islamic armed opposition groups — Army of Islam and the Islamic Movement of Ahrar al-Sham — have accepted the truce, as was the case with Free Syrian Army, which is a part of SCN.

SCN announced on Friday in a statement that a total of 97 armed groups had approved the cessation of hostilities, but did not give their names, so there were doubts about the acceptance of Army of Islam and Ahrar al-Sham.

The ceasefire, agreed on by Russia and the US, came into force in Syria at midnight after both the Damascus government and SCN gave their approval.

Both the Islamic State and the Al-Nusra Front have been excluded from the ceasefire deal.